Mount Hiei and Enryaku-ji Temple

Mount Hiei (Hiei-zan) guards the northeastern approach to Kyoto. The
sacred mountain and its remote Yokawa
precinct are mentioned in the Uji chapters of The Tale of Genji. On the 49th day after Yugao's death,
Genji sponsors a reading of the Lotus Sutra for her at the Hokke-do in
the Saito, or west precinct.

View of the sacred Mount Hiei
from Kuramadera.

The Toto, or east precinct, contains the Konpon
Chudo, Amida Hall and Kaidan-in - the formerly much-prized ordination
platform.

The three precincts make up the sprawling monastic complex of
Enryaku-ji Temple. Founded by Saicho in the late eighth century,
Enryaku-ji had at its peak about 3,000 buildings and an army of warrior
monks. But the temple's power posed a threat to warlord Oda Nobunaga,
who razed it to the ground and slaughtered all the monks in 1571.